In the field of prosthetic implants, materials often used include bone grafts and implants produced from non-bone materials, including for example stainless steel, titanium and plastics. The choice of whether to use a bone or a non-bone implant often depends on the clinical indication, implant site, whether the implant is load-bearing, and the size of the implant needed.
Prior to the present invention, the use of bone grafts versus non-bone prosthetic implants to for example, support and fuse together adjacent vertebrae, has been limited in part by the physical size of a cortical bone graft. Interbody bone grafting involves the problem of strength. Strong cortical bone (the outer layer) is required as a strut in the interbody position to prevent collapse of the disc space while healing occurs. For example, cortical bone obtained from a cadaver source fashioned into struts, is not wide enough for optimum load bearing. This natural limitation often excludes the use of a bone graft product.
The success or failure of a bone graft further depends on whether the bone graft remains at the implant site, is cellularized, and whether it can withstand the mechanical load. In spinal surgery, there are two primary indications for use of allograft bone: (1) when there is insufficient available autograft bone, and (2) in spinal fusion procedures when a structural element in needed. Typically, bone grafts are affixed at an implant site by fusion. Bone grafts for spinal applications often fail because they are extruded from the implantation site due to shifting, rotation, and slippage of the graft, are not cellularized, or fail mechanically.
The invention enables the use of bone grafts for applications normally suited for only non-bone prosthetic implants. The invention solves the problem of graft failure by providing a composite bone graft which can be appropriately sized for any application out of for example, strong cortical bone; promotes the ingrowth of patient bone at an implantation site by promoting osteoinductivity and cellularization; provides added stability and mechanical strength; and does not shift, extrude or rotate; after implantation.